MARKETS / FINANCE

Stocks declined on Friday and were on track for a second week of losses as investors opted out of financial shares amid lingering euro zone debt worries.

TMX Group, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, delivered forecast-beating quarterly results on Friday as it prepares for regulatory reviews of its $3 billion plan to join forces with the London Stock Exchange.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host technology titans, including Facebook, Google and Amazon, at a summit to debate how governments can encourage innovation on the Internet, while taming its excesses.

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Rambus inappropriately destroyed documents related to patent cases it filed, but the judges asked a lower court to reassess its decision to toss out a lawsuit because of the document shredding.

Citigroup Inc declared its first dividend in more than two years on Friday, announcing it will pay a penny per share on June 17, but analysts said the bank could take a while to pay the kinds of dividends that its rivals do.

Stocks fell about 1 percent on Friday as a strengthening in the dollar due to global uncertainty caused a drop in commodity-related and financial shares.

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China's Alibaba Group said it told its board in July 2009 that it had transferred ownership of its online e-commerce business to Chief Executive Jack Ma, rejecting allegations by major shareholder Yahoo Inc that it had been blindsided by the deal.

U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early May as optimism about jobs reduced the pinch from high gasoline and food prices, a survey released on Friday showed.

U.S. consumer prices rose as expected in April on higher food and energy prices, but continued to exhibit little sign of a broader pick-up inflation that would trouble the Federal Reserve.

Consumer prices rose as expected in April on higher food and energy prices, but continued to exhibit little sign of a broader pick-up inflation that would trouble the Federal Reserve.

U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early May, as optimism about jobs reduced the pinch from high gasoline and food prices, a survey released on Friday showed.

Powerful performances by the German and French economies propelled growth in the euro zone well above forecasts in the first quarter while also highlighting the yawning gap between the bloc's strong and weak.

BATS Global Markets, the third-largest U.S. exchange operator, filed on Friday for an IPO amid a frenzy of consolidation across the industry, including the acquisition of bigger rival NYSE Euronext .

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as data showed U.S. inflation hit the highest level in 2-1/2 years last month, making investors cautious.

Economists have become less optimistic about the U.S. growth outlook but slightly more upbeat about the job market, though employment is still seen recovering only slowly from a deep slump.

BATS Global Markets Inc, the third-largest U.S. exchange operator after NYSE Euronext and NASDAQ OMX Group , filed with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering.

Wall street edged down at the open on Friday after April U.S. inflation rose in line with expectations, helping investors reassess the recent volatility in the commodities market.

China's Alibaba Group said it told its board in July 2009 that it had transferred ownership of its online e-commerce business to Chief Executive Jack Ma, rejecting allegations by major shareholder Yahoo Inc that it had been blindsided by the deal.

The Dollar price of Gold on wholesale markets continued to rally Friday morning, rising as high as $1516 per ounce - less than 4% off this month's all-time high - before slipping back, while stock and commodity markets recovered some of Thursday's losses.

Google Inc is close to settling a U.S. criminal probe into allegations that it made hundreds of millions of dollars from online pharmacy ads that break U.S. laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Oil rose more than $1 on Friday, taking benchmark U.S. crude futures back above $100 per barrel, after much higher-than-expected growth in Germany and France and a rebound in the euro against the dollar.

The world's top banks will likely be hardest hit by new capital surcharges that would rise according to size, links to other lenders and how easily a bank could be replaced in a crisis, the Financial Times reported.

U.S. stock index futures edged up on Friday ahead of key inflation and consumer confidence data that will give investors a chance to reassess recent volatility of the commodities market.

The Lloyd's of London insurance market will take a $3.8 billion hit from earthquakes and floods in the first quarter, and predicted the high level of catastrophe claims will lift insurance prices this year.

Despite bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Europe's debt crisis may yet spread to core euro zone countries and emerging Eastern Europe, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

U.S. bank failures in 2010 cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp $2 billion, or 9 percent, more than initially forecast, according to a new analysis by SNL Financial.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 all up 0.3 percent at 4 a.m. EST.

Storming performances by the German and French economies in the first quarter highlight the yawning gap between the euro zone's strong and weak and suggest the forecast for growth in the bloc is well under par.